SGIA has joined the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) Multipollutant Stakeholder Group. Louisville is currently not meeting the recently strengthened 8-hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and is classified as a nonattainment area. As a result, measures are needed to reduce the source of ozone, which is formed as result of two other primary pollutants, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere.
Volatile organic compounds are organic chemicals that evaporate and include solvents used in printing, gasoline, propellants in aerosol cans, etc. Nitrogen oxides are released when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline and natural gas are combusted. Printing operations release both volatile organic compounds due to solvents in inks, coatings, adhesives, cleaning solutions as well as nitrogen oxides from burning natural gas in dryers, heaters, furnaces, boilers, and other similar devices.
Multipollutant Stakeholder Group (MPSG) is a community stakeholder group of business officials from key sectors, community leaders, and relevant government, academia, and health representatives that will meet and develop strategies to reduce air pollution in Louisville. This group will discuss current air pollution challenges and make recommendations for next steps to improve local air quality and reduce health impacts from air pollution. Although great progress has been made in reducing overall air pollution, ozone continues to be a major challenge.
The MPSG will also look at reducing fine particulate pollution and air toxics, which may provide co-benefits to the effort to reduce ozone. This is a departure from the past stakeholder convenings, in which only a single pollutant type was examined, but is in keeping with the current state of air quality planning needs and public health goals.
The MPSG has completed a series of initial meetings and has broken into subgroups to focus on specific aspects such as point sources, area sources, mobile sources, and outreach and education. The meeting will continue through February and will culminate in recommendations for action.
We will keep you updated on the progress and if you have any questions, email the Government Affairs Department at govtaffairs@sgia.org.
Volatile organic compounds are organic chemicals that evaporate and include solvents used in printing, gasoline, propellants in aerosol cans, etc. Nitrogen oxides are released when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline and natural gas are combusted. Printing operations release both volatile organic compounds due to solvents in inks, coatings, adhesives, cleaning solutions as well as nitrogen oxides from burning natural gas in dryers, heaters, furnaces, boilers, and other similar devices.
Multipollutant Stakeholder Group (MPSG) is a community stakeholder group of business officials from key sectors, community leaders, and relevant government, academia, and health representatives that will meet and develop strategies to reduce air pollution in Louisville. This group will discuss current air pollution challenges and make recommendations for next steps to improve local air quality and reduce health impacts from air pollution. Although great progress has been made in reducing overall air pollution, ozone continues to be a major challenge.
The MPSG will also look at reducing fine particulate pollution and air toxics, which may provide co-benefits to the effort to reduce ozone. This is a departure from the past stakeholder convenings, in which only a single pollutant type was examined, but is in keeping with the current state of air quality planning needs and public health goals.
The MPSG has completed a series of initial meetings and has broken into subgroups to focus on specific aspects such as point sources, area sources, mobile sources, and outreach and education. The meeting will continue through February and will culminate in recommendations for action.
We will keep you updated on the progress and if you have any questions, email the Government Affairs Department at govtaffairs@sgia.org.